CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
Nora
My bloodshot eyes rubbed like sandpaper with each blink.
Denying Corey’s request to leave last night, insisting we get some sleep first had backfired.
I’d spent hours tossing side to side while my chest tightened and pounded.
When the kettle rumbled in the kitchen, the allure of caffeine was the only thing that enticed me from bed.
‘You’re up early.’ Corey took a bite of toast.
‘What time is it?’
‘Six-thirty.’
No wonder my eyes stung. No one functioned well on three hours’ sleep. How the hell was he already eating breakfast and drinking coffee?
‘Did you get much sleep?’ I asked.
Despite his productivity in the kitchen, there was no way either of us could drive.
We were a road death statistic waiting to happen.
My stomach dropped, and I cursed myself for ruining our chance to get to Katoomba early knowing we’d need to take a nap before hitting the road.
What if the man in the video holding the umbrella was no longer in the area by the time we arrived?
‘Loads. I took a sleeping pill last night.’ He bounced on his toes.
The heaviness in my stomach turned light as fog and blew away in the wind – which was likely the nervous gas swirling inside – but at least Corey was rested enough to drive.
My chest jittered as I gathered courage to ask a favour. ‘So, my mum lives near Katoomba.’
A statement, not a question. That’s all I could muster.
The brave and optimistic Nora who put all her effort and energy into a promotion she didn’t receive, couldn’t even bring herself to ask Corey to visit her mum.
Oh, how the mighty had fallen to nothing more than a weak bug crawling on the floor.
‘Just ask me.’ Corey crossed his arms and smiled, eyes shining as he waited for me to speak again.
I sighed. ‘Can we visit my mum while we’re there?’
‘Considering you whistled at me like a dog in front of my mother, yes. I’d be delighted for your mother to meet her new daughter.’
I swallowed the lump in my throat. ‘I’ll visit her after we switch back, just don’t leave without me. You’re my ride home.’
I’d already met his family, but he didn’t need to meet mine, too.
Our lives were tangled enough; and I couldn’t stand the idea of Corey learning such personal details about my life – especially if he thought to ask for my high-school photos filled with braces and acne.
There’s also the risk Mum may pull him aside thinking he’s me, reminding him to be as ‘alpha’ as the boy I’ve brought home, and not to slack off at work to spend time with him.
Sure, he knows I don’t know my father, but did I really want him to see how it shaped my upbringing?
Especially since I’d put everything into practice, and life grew into loneliness with an uncompromising hatred of all men.
Even the ones who didn’t expect me to cower beneath them, like Corey.
He sipped his coffee, his gaze never leaving mine over the rim of his mug. ‘You’d better get dressed. I’m ready to go.’
I peered down at my pyjama pants, then to Corey’s jeans and large green T-shirt he somehow pulled off by tucking a small section into the side. He’d pulled my hair into a pony and even applied some mascara without the dramatic clown effect.
‘Wow, Corey.’
‘What?’ His hands patted his clothes and hair. ‘Did I do something wrong? I used that black stick thing on the wrong part of my face, didn’t I? I swear the YouTube video I watched said to comb my lashes with it.’
My heart squeezed at his effort. ‘No, no. You look great. It’s mascara, and that’s exactly where it goes. I just didn’t expect you to be ready so early, and I definitely didn’t expect you to look so…nice.’
‘I figured you’d appreciate it once you got your body back.’
I turned away as tears threatened to fall. ‘I’d better get dressed then.’
‘Want a travel coffee?’ he asked.
I nodded with flushed cheeks and a tingling chest. Our hour and a half drive to Katoomba would be filled with warm, fuzzy compliments and laughter.
I could feel it in my bones.
My bones lied.
Rain caused horrendous stop-start traffic on our way out of the city, then just as we said goodbye to the hustle and bustle, we found more traffic on the motorway.
Almost two hours into the drive Corey insisted we pull off the motorway for a bathroom break, despite having passed a truck stop only ten minutes previously.
Thanks to cautious drivers, we’d only made it as far as the exit to Penrith.
‘It’s your damn bladder, Nora. Don’t get huffy with me,’ he said.
The rain pelted harder, and I was secretly grateful to stop driving while it hopefully cleared. It was getting hard to see out the windscreen, despite the wipers’ frantic swipes. Corey pulled into the library carpark as people came rushing out of the building.
He wound down his window and poked his head out. ‘What’s going on?’
‘Flash flooding. Everyone needs to evacuate. Barely a one-in-eighty-year chance, but today’s our unlucky day. All the rain the last few weeks hasn’t helped.’
If only we’d been treated to the same rain in the city, we’d have had a chance to see more umbrellas. ‘We need to leave.’ I balled my nerves into clenched fists.
‘Yeah, I heard. I’ll be quick in the toilet, then we can go.’
‘No,’ I said. ‘Like, right now. I don’t want the river and dam to break and sweep our car away.’
‘But I need to pee,’ said Corey.
‘Your dead body can release the urine when you’re floating in the flood waters then.’
‘Actually, it’s your body.’
I threw my hands in the air. ‘Just drive, I don’t have the mental capacity for this right now.’
The car rolled at snail speed while the windscreen wipers continued to race side to side, barely making a dent in our visibility.
The next suburb over was high enough to take a break while we waited to hear what roads we could still use.
We stopped at a fast-food chain for fries and stood at the counter watching the news report on the TV while the lights flickered.
‘There it is again!’ I pointed to the screen as Corey’s weird green-speckled umbrella floated behind the news anchor.
Had this man found it after we left it on the street after the storm? Had the wind carried it through the air like a plastic bag and floated it all the way out there?
‘I can’t see who’s holding it,’ Corey squinted.
‘Me neither, but it’s definitely there. We’re so close,’ I grinned as I accepted the hot fries from the teenager behind the counter and took a victory bite of the salty goodness, then raised it in the air. ‘Tastes like success.’
The TV switched to an emergency broadcast announcement, informing us of catastrophic winds and blocked roads.
‘Seriously? We can’t even get back to the city while we wait?’ asked Corey.
The success I’d tasted earlier turned to bitter disappointment. Driving was too dangerous which meant we were stuck here. The third time the lights above us flickered, the last remaining couple inside dashed to their car and drove away. Corey fidgeted with the food wrapper, avoiding my gaze.
‘Should we get a hotel for the night, then? It’s almost the afternoon now, and we can’t sleep in this place,’ I said.
He shrugged, scrunched up the wrapper, and tossed it into the bin.
‘Good shot,’ I said as the power went out completely.
Staff came from out back with torches to let us know they were closing up, so we raced through the rain to the car and sat in our seats.
‘So, should we get a hotel?’ I asked again.
Corey dropped his head to the steering wheel. ‘Fuck, I’m going to have to postpone seeing Paddy tonight. I really thought we’d get away with not having to go in the wrong bodies.’
‘You mean you were still going to take me with you?’ My heart did a traitorous dance at the idea of Corey spending time with me in our own bodies.
‘Well, yeah. We promised him.’
My dancing paused. This was about pleasing Paddy, not me.
‘And yeah, we should get a hotel if we have to spend the night here.’ He started the car and pulled out of the car park. ‘Do you know where any are?’
‘If you turn left and follow the road up, there should be a few.’
Corey puttered through the rain, leaning forward and gripping the steering wheel as though it would help him see better.
‘How do you know this area so well?’ he asked.
I unsuccessfully tried to hold in a smile. ‘We used to stop here when we drove to the city so I could use the bathroom.’
Corey laughed but never moved his gaze from the road. ‘Small bladder.’
I pointed to the bright sign ahead. ‘There’s one.’
As we got closer, the no vacancy sign glowed, and Corey grumbled while he drove past it.
The next hotel glowed with the same sign.
When we made it to the fifth and final hotel, there was no sign at all.
Hope simmered inside of me as Corey turned into the driveway and parked out front.
We dashed inside through the pelting rain and stood soaked and shivering in front of the dark brown reception desk.
A lady with hair as silver as the moon looked up from the book she was reading.
‘Welcome. How may I help you?’
‘We’re after two rooms, please,’ I said.
Her knobbly fingers tapped the keyboard as she alternated between peering through her glasses and over them, apparently unable to decide which provided the clearest view. The brown desk was peeling, and the orange walls behind were smudged and covered with unused frame hooks.
‘Ah, yes.’ Her gaze shifted to us as her lips lifted into a knowing smile. ‘We have one room available.’
‘Two beds?’ Corey asked.
She waited a few painful seconds before replying. ‘One.’
She pointed her wonky finger into the air to clarify, because neither of us spoke. The vanilla scent of the room must have sent me into a sugar coma, because my head dizzied and my skulled caved in. I was a puddle on the floor waiting for someone to mop me up and dispose of me.
‘This is like one of those ridiculous romance novels,’ I mumbled.
‘You don’t like romance novels?’ Corey asked.
‘They set unrealistic expectations about life and men.’